The Current Practice of Performance-Based Budgeting in The Largest U.S. Cities: An Innovation Theory Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article provides new insights into our understanding of the adoption and implementation of performance-based budgeting (PBB) in the largest U.S. cities. Addressing PBB from an innovation theory perspective, the article conceives of PBB as an innovative budgetary tool that was initially proposed in the late 1950s as an attempt to rationalize the government’s budgetary decision-making process. While interest in PBB waned in the 1970s and 1980s, it gained renewed interest under the New Public Management reforms in the past few decades. Scholars have observed that although performance measures have been widely developed and introduced into budget presentations, budget allocations are still not made on the basis of performance information. The article examines the extent to which this observation holds true for states with performance budgeting laws, assuming that large cities located in states with performance laws, such as Texas, are more likely than others to fully implement PBB by basing their budget allocation decisions on performance information. The article takes Texas as a leading example of such states, and empirically tests this assumption using a mixed-methods approach of survey and content analysis data.